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FenrisDEFENCE · FD-0001
SystemsVIDAR
IN PRODUCTION

Vidar

C-UAS · MOBILEVehicle-mounted laser counter-UAS system

HEIMDAL's tracking core on a vehicle. A gyro-stabilised head holds a track on a small drone while the vehicle is driving, and the same laser defeats it. Protection that travels with the convoy instead of waiting at the destination.

MOUNT
VEHICLE ROOF
POINTING
GYRO-STABILISED
EFFECTOR
LASER
MODE
MANUAL / SENTRY

Counter-UAS is hard enough from a concrete pad. From a moving vehicle it is harder in a way that is easy to underestimate: the target is small and fast, and so is the movement of the thing you are trying to look from. Every bump, every turn and every camber change is an error the pointing loop has to remove before it can even begin to track. VIDAR is HEIMDAL's detection, fusion and tracking engine on a stabilised vehicle mount, with a compact multi-sensor head sized to sit on a roof rack and a buffered supply that can take the slew loads the vehicle's electrical system was never designed for.

Contents07 SHEETS
Design intent
0101 / 06

It tracks from a moving base

The gyro-stabilised head is isolated from what the hull is doing, so a pothole is not a lost track. This is the hardest case in counter-UAS and it is the case VIDAR exists for.

0202 / 06

Protection travels with you

Static air defence protects the place you left and the place you are going. A vehicle mount protects the road between them, which is where the convoy actually spends its time.

0303 / 06

The same core, not a cut-down one

Detection, fusion, tracking and prediction are HEIMDAL's, unchanged. What differs is the mount, the power and the stabilisation. Nothing was removed to make it fit.

0404 / 06

A magazine bounded by the alternator

The laser expends power and nothing else. There is no interceptor stock to carry in a vehicle that is already full, and nothing falls back down on the convoy behind you.

0505 / 06

Power that survives a slew

Snapping a stabilised head onto a new bearing draws hard and fast. The supply is buffered for exactly that, rather than browning out the vehicle at the moment it matters.

0606 / 06

Crew-operated or standing watch

Manual mode keeps the crew in the loop. Sentry mode lets the system engage inside criteria set before it was armed, for the halts and the overnight stops when nobody is in the turret.

How it works
N.01

Why moving changes everything

A fixed sentry has one job with the pointing loop: follow the target. A vehicle mount has two, and the first one is harder. Before it can track anything it has to cancel out what the vehicle is doing, and a vehicle on a track does a great deal, quickly, in three axes at once.

Get that wrong and the failure is not a slightly worse track, it is no track. The head loses the target, the search layer hands it back, the head reacquires, and the cycle repeats while the drone closes. A system that tracks beautifully on a pad and cannot hold a lock at 40 km/h has not solved the problem it was bought for.

So the stabilisation is not a feature bolted onto a fixed system. It is the reason this configuration exists, and it is where the engineering went.

N.02

The road is where the threat is

Fixed air defence protects fixed things, and it does that well. What it does not protect is the movement between them, which is where a convoy is exposed, predictable, and worth attacking.

Small drones have made that exposure much cheaper to exploit. A vehicle column on a known route is a target that anyone with a few hundred euros of airframe can find and follow, and the response has to travel with the column rather than wait at either end of it.

That is the argument for a vehicle mount, and it is not an argument against the fixed system. The two are the same capability applied to the two halves of the same problem, which is why they run the same software.

N.03

What the vehicle has to give up

Nothing on a vehicle is free. VIDAR takes roof space, it takes mass high up where mass is least welcome, and it takes electrical power in bursts when the head slews.

The head is sized for that, and the supply is buffered so a slew does not brown out the vehicle. But the honest position is that this is an integration, not an accessory: it needs a roof rack that can carry it, an alternator that can feed it, and a crew position that can see the screen.

We would rather have that conversation before the order than after it. Integration support is part of the system, not a service sold alongside it.

Employment

Where it is used

  • 01Convoy and route protection
  • 02Mobile command and headquarters elements
  • 03Forward logistics and resupply columns
  • 04Border and perimeter patrol vehicles
  • 05Protective details and escort tasks
  • 06Temporary overwatch from a halted vehicle

What it will not do

Every sensing method has a blind spot. These are VIDAR’s, stated plainly. A capability you find out about in the field is worse than one you were told about here.

The vehicle sets the ceiling

Roof space, mass high up, and available electrical power are decided by the platform, not by us. A vehicle that cannot spare the alternator capacity cannot run this, and finding that out at installation is the wrong time.

Moving costs performance

Stabilisation removes most of the hull's motion. Most is not all: track accuracy on the move is worse than from a pad, and it degrades further with speed and surface. We would rather state that than let a demonstration on tarmac set the expectation.

A laser needs line of sight and power

Weather degrades it, terrain blocks it, and the magazine is bounded by what the vehicle can generate. Sustained engagement is an electrical question, and the answer depends on the vehicle.

Sentry mode is decided in advance

Unattended operation means the engagement criteria are set before the system is armed, because nobody is arbitrating them afterwards. That is a command decision about volume, classification and rules of engagement, not one the equipment makes.

Specification
PLATFORM
MountingVehicle roof rack, isolator-mounted base
StabilisationGyro-stabilised, head isolated from hull motion
On-the-moveHolds a track while the vehicle drives
HeadCompact multi-sensor, sized for a vehicle mount
Traverse360° continuous
SlewRapid redirect between threats
Head massTBC
Height above roofTBC
DETECTION & TRACKING
CoreThe same engine as HEIMDAL. Not a reduced variant
ArchitectureCue and slew: search detects, head confirms and locks
SensorsWide-field search, day EO, thermal, optional RF cue
FusionOne track per target, in a common bearing frame
PredictionFiltered track drives the platform ahead of the target
Detection rangeTBC
Track accuracy, movingTBC
EFFECTOR
TypeHigh-precision laser. No munition, no resupply
Magazine depthBounded by vehicle power, not by rounds
Cost per engagementElectrical power only
CollateralNo fragmentation, no spent interceptor falling
Effective rangeTBC
POWER & AUTHORITY
SupplyVehicle electrical system, buffered for slew loads
Standby drawTBC
Detection and trackingRuns unattended in both modes
Manual modeCrew commits every engagement
Sentry modeEngages inside briefed criteria without a commit
Mode selectionDeliberate, authenticated, and logged
AbortAvailable at any point in either mode
Questions

Asked and answered

What buyers ask about passive detection, answered without the hedging. Anything not covered here, put to us directly.

Ask us something else
Q.01How is this different from HEIMDAL?

The mount, the power and the stabilisation. HEIMDAL is mast- or structure-mounted for persistent watch over a fixed site. VIDAR is on a vehicle roof, gyro-stabilised so it holds a track while driving, and fed from the vehicle's electrical system. Detection, fusion, tracking and the laser are the same.

Q.02Can it really engage while the vehicle is moving?

Holding a track while moving is what the stabilisation is for, and it is the case the configuration was built around. Accuracy on the move is worse than from a static pad and degrades with speed and surface; anyone quoting identical figures for both is quoting the pad.

Q.03What vehicles does it fit?

Anything with a roof rack that can carry the mass and an electrical system that can supply the slew loads. That is an integration conversation rather than a compatibility list, and we would rather have it before the order.

Q.04Is it autonomous?

Detection and tracking always run unattended. Engagement is selectable: manual keeps the crew in the loop for every shot, sentry mode engages inside criteria set before arming. Choosing sentry mode is a deliberate, authenticated act, and both the mode and every engagement are logged.

Q.05Does it need a dedicated operator?

In manual mode somebody has to be watching and committing. In sentry mode it stands watch on its own, which is what it is for at a halt or overnight. Neither mode needs a specialist RF or optics background.

Q.06What happens to vehicle power during an engagement?

The supply is buffered so a slew does not brown out the vehicle. Sustained engagement is bounded by what the vehicle can generate, which is a platform-specific number rather than a property of the system.

Q.07Can it hand tracks to other systems?

Yes. It feeds track data out and takes cues in, so a vehicle-mounted head can contribute to a wider air picture rather than only serving its own crew.

Q.08What is the detection range on the move?

TBC

Continue
Engagement

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Full performance envelopes, integration documentation and trial results for VIDAR are released to qualified government and industry parties.

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